Insightful Commentary from and on the Canadian Film World

Entre chien et loup (Spare Change) (Review)

This one starts out with Dave (Alexis Lefebvre), a struggling homeless person, looking around, asking the same question to everyone who passes, “Spare change?”. Like every other beggar out there, he gets ignored. I’ve seen so many people like this on a street I occasionally commute down.

Before he knows it, he spots his old college friend, Sophie (Monia Chokri). She brings David back to her old fashioned condo which has a bit of clutter and the most awkward bathroom ever. (I’ve never been in a bathroom where you had to turn on the sink to get hot water for the shower going.) Sophie supplies everything Dave needs and later Dave surprises her with a cleaner new look.

They share a meal he manages to make her, as he has learned a lot about cooking since college. They talk about their personal lives. Dave states Sophie has everything and he feels he doesn’t need very much in life. He goes on, explaining his life consists of not much but doing drugs, hanging out with girls, and traveling to different places.

The majority of the movie is just the two chatting and yapping. I won’t give away much more, but one has to wonder if you should really trust someone from off the street, no matter how well you know them. Believe me, I’m not even making contact with any street folk since the one time I was approached by a needy woman a couple months ago.

This was a very gentle and relaxed short movie. Unlike the majority of them which have slightly weird stories, this one stayed simple. Except the ending was unexpected, but like I said before, what else can you expect from this production team?